The Vikings enter the bye week with a charmed 5-1 record and a roster that is "pretty clean injury wise," said head coach Kevin O'Connell, whose to-do list is still plenty populated after straining through four straight one-score wins.
Vikings enter bye week with plenty to fine tune after a 5-1 start
Six games into Kevin O'Connell's offense, the Vikings rank middle of the pack across the board, reflecting what's been an inconsistent but winning team.
October 17, 2022 at 11:59PM
Six games into O'Connell's offense, the Vikings rank middle of the pack across the board — points (14th), red-zone efficiency (13th), third downs (17th), yards (20th) — and have fielded an uneven defense that allows a lot of yardage, but not as many points. Playing clean with limited turnovers and penalties helped them overcome issues like 10 three-and-out drives in Sunday's win against the Dolphins.
While players get time away this week, coaches will evaluate their approaches and how they can counter what has been thrown at them so far.
"Hopefully we can stay one step ahead," O'Connell said Monday. "Definitely going to look at how we used our players, when we used them, certain formations and certain personnel groupings, and obviously defensively we'll do the same thing. Just try to continue to evolve."
One area that will catch O'Connell's eye is the lack of explosive plays. The Vikings have struggled to generate big plays of at least 20 yards passing (23rd) or running (26th) as quarterback Kirk Cousins is throwing deep downfield about half as often as he did in 2019-2021, according to Pro Football Focus. Big plays don't only come from long throws, O'Connell noted.
"I'm going to take a long look at that and just see what that translates to," he said. "We've had shorter targets go for explosive gains in catch and runs. ... [Cousins] making great decisions and being really, really accurate with the ball underneath is a whole other layer to his game."
'Do things in the end'
Receiver Adam Thielen is one of four Vikings players remaining from 2016, the last team to start 5-1, joining safety Harrison Smith, linebacker Eric Kendricks and edge rusher Danielle Hunter. That year's result — starting 5-0 and finishing 3-8 to miss the playoffs — has not been forgotten.
"I've been on teams that have started fast and not made the playoffs," Thielen said. "So we have a lot of guys on this team that have had that experience and know that we have to stay on top of it. We've got to keep getting better. The teams that find ways to get better throughout the season are the teams that do things in the end."
Tracking speed
Receiver Jalen Reagor was the league's fastest ball carrier on Sunday when he was tracked reaching 21.25 miles per hour on a 25-yard punt return in the third quarter, per NFL's Next Gen Stats. Running back Dalvin Cook and receiver Justin Jefferson were also among 10 players to exceed 20 mph with the ball.
Five of the 14 fastest players with the ball during Sunday's games were at Hard Rock Stadium, where Dolphins receivers Jaylen Waddle (20.23 mph) and Tyreek Hill (19.74 mph) also reached high marks.
Etc.
- Edge rusher Za'Darius Smith, who led the Vikings with seven hurries, two hits and two sacks against the Dolphins: "We harped on this all week of getting pressure on the quarterback. We've been lacking a little bit on that, but [Sunday] we brought that pressure. And as you can see, the world saw it."
- The Vikings' plus-4 turnover differential is tied for second in the NFL. Smith is responsible for three of the team's 10 takeaways after his second interception and first forced fumble on Sunday. "One thing we touch on a daily basis ... is getting the ball and taking a shot when you can," he said.
- The Cardinals, the Vikings' next opponent on Oct. 30 after the bye week, acquired receiver Robbie Anderson in a trade with the Panthers on Monday, a day after leading receiver Marquise Brown suffered a foot injury. Arizona will also get receiver DeAndre Hopkins back from a six-game suspension this week.
- With a season-low two penalties for 20 yards against the Dolphins, the Vikings now have the second-fewest flags (25) in the league behind the Rams (24), O'Connell's former team.
- The Vikings waived safety Myles Dorn from the active roster on Monday to activate receiver Blake Proehl from the physically unable to perform list. Dorn could re-sign to the practice squad.
- In what has become a road win tradition, Cousins wore many of his teammates' necklaces and chains on the team flight on Sunday night. "We going to get him a grill at some point," tight end Irv Smith Jr. said.
Mike Conley was in Minneapolis, where he sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Vikings game, on Sunday during the robbery.
